connection is something no one can live without, so wow is there for our customers with speed, reliability, value, and choice. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. wow. >> wow supports c-span as a public service alongith these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> good afternoon, everybody. how are you? let my staff get settled. good to see you. and i have some updates for you as well. later today, president trump will address the business roundtable's quarterly meeting where he will tout his pro-growth economic agenda and answer questions before more than 100 of our nation's leading c.e.o.'s. in fact, it's the largest attendance ever for this event because business leaders are so

eager and encouraged by president trump's return to washington. this follows president trump's roundtable yesterday with the technology c.e.o. council here at the white house where he met with key leaders in the technology industry. and last night, president trump also held an official swearing in ceremony in the oval office for sean, the 28th director of the united states secret service. sean demonstrated unbelievable bravery under gunfire in butler, pennsylvania, this past july when an assassin tried to kill president trump. as someone who got to know sean personally throughout the campaign last year, i can say unequivocally that there is nobody better suited for this important role. and following the confirmation of labor secretary lori chavez last night, the senate has now confirmed 21 of president trump's well-qualified cabinet-level nominees, far outpacing the previous administration. and looking ahead, tomorrow the president will welcome the tee

shaw -- president of ireland for the shamrock ceremony and the president will talk to the nato secretary. february's jobs report was good news for america. particularly our manufacturing sector. the manufacturing sector gained 10,000 new jobs in just one month under president trump. this rebound was led by the automobile sectors where we saw 9,000 new auto jobs created already. that is the most auto jobs added to the economy in 15 months. this was a complete turn-around from the biden administration where we were losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing jobs per month last year. reuters is out with a report that a number of companies are looking to expanding their presence or bringing their business into america because of president trump's policies and just moments ago before coming

out here, i saw another report by reuters revealing that merck has opened a $1 billion facility at its north carolina site. this is just the latest pharmaceutical company to boost its u.s. manufacturing in lieu of president trump's tariffs. this announcement follows eli lilly's plans to invest at least $27 billion to build four new manufacturing plants here in the united states. and sizer has also said it's considering moving their manufacturing overseas right here to the united states of america. as the president has said over and over again, when we purchase products made in the u.s.a., the profits stay here, the revenues stay here, and most importantly, the jobs stay here. and despite the globalist mainstream media's attempts to worry consumers, president trump will not repeat the trend trend of past american presidents who broke their promise to the american public and smiled while they stuck the knife in the back of american workers and shipped their jobs overseas. our country has lost more than

five million jobs and more than 90,000 factories due to devastating globalization over the last three decades alone. north carolina lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs, including 60% of its furniture manufacturing jobs from the years following nafta. and in michigan, globalist policies destroyed 250,000 jobs, including 40% of the auto industry, which, again, we know is clawing back because of president trump's action already. these are harrowing statistics that represent countless towns and families who have been completely destroyed. but the america last globalist era is ending under president trump. he will no longer allow our country and our workers, our hardworking american families to be ripped off. on another very important issue for the president, he continues to work hard to secure the border. if you missed it yesterday, cbp launched an enlanced -- enhanced

mobile feature, the intent to depart, which aufls offers unlawfully present aliens an orderly and defined process to notify the u.s. government with their intent to leave the country. we provide illegal aliens with a straightforward way to leave now before facing much harsher consequences later. a new report from bloomberg just found that the number of aliens trying to reach our country by traveling through the jungle to central america dropped a whooping 99% last month. and this follows the incredible news that illegal border crossings plummeted last month as well, down 94% at our southern border from last february under the biden administration. as president trump made clear during his historic address to congress, we must finish this job and continue to carry out the largest deportation campaign in american history.

and that is why the president fully endorses the continuing resolution that is before congress and was negotiated by speaker johnson. he is encouraging all republicans to vote yes on this clean c.r., which freezes funding at current levels and will prevent the democrats from getting their long-awaited government shutdown. voting against this c.r. will hurt the american people and kill the incredible momentum that president trump has built over the past 51 days. and lastly, before i take questions, i would like to commend "the washington post," who i believe is in the room today. according to a new report from axios, "the washington post" is overhauling their newsroom structure. it appears that the mainstream media, including the "post" is finally learning that having disdain for more than half the country that supports this president does not help you sell newspapers. it's not a very good business model, and that's why we have new people in our media seat. we have the host of "breaking

points" a popular political youtube news and podcast show that's wrapped up -- racked up nearly one billion views on youtube, several hundred podcast downloads since its launch in 2021. he's a former member of the white house correspondence and part of the thriving independent media. we are very happy to have you with us today. why don't you kick off our briefing? thank you. reporter: really appreciate you having me, karoline. first is first on the stock market. so currently it's the 25th anniversary today of the dot-com bubble crash. there is a lot of concern for a lot of americans right now about the state of the economy. president trump has refused to rule out a recession. secretary lutnick, however, will tell us there will not be on. can the white house tell us and assure the americans there won't be a recession? karoline: first off, when it comes to the stock market, the numbers we see today, the numbers we vau yesterday, the -- saw yesterday, the numbers we will see tomorrow are a snapshot

of a moment in time. i'm here to echo the remarks of this president and this white house, we are in a period of economic transition. we are in a period of transition from the mess that was created under joe biden and the previous administration. joe biden left this country in an economic disaster. several statistics to point out. the delinkency rate on credit card loans increased 63% under joe biden, hitting near a 12-year high. under joe biden all net job growth went to foreign-born americans. real wages declined by 1.5% under joe biden. and as we all know, and this administration continues to combat prices soared more than 20% under joe biden because of his reckless spending and economic policies. so we are in a period of transition from that economic nightmare under a president who had no idea what he was doing, never held a private sector job in his life, into a golden age of american manufacturing under a business man and a deal maker in chief in president donald j.

trump who will be implementing, is implementing the formula that we know works. look at president trump's results in his first team. -- term. if people are looking for certainty, they should look at the record of this president. that's why the american people re-elected him back to this office. and look at everything that president trump has already done and his team has already done in just 51 days. the massive efforts to deregulate. tax cuts, which we need congress to pass the trump economic agenda, the trump tax cuts, which will unleash economic growth. and the president also addressed this directly, i will point out as well. when you look at what he said on air force one, and he said, he wants the american people to have so much money in their pockets they don't even know what to do with it. that's the intent of this administration and we're working very hard every day on that goal. reporter: second question on the c.r. so president trump came out today in a primary challenge against congressman thomas massie. congressman massie has been a supporter of doge and has been a supporter of make america healthy again. what kind of message is this

white house sending against a congressman who's sticking up for principles that he's long held in the chamber and voting against continuing resolution and spending? karoline: i think the president has made it clear that it is critical for conservatives and frankly all members of congress to get behind this continuing resolution, to keep the government funded. the president wants to continue the momentum that he has built over the last 51 days. in order to keep the government funded, we have to keep forward with these deportations and he believes that everybody needs to get on board with this bill. he's been making calls to get this over the finish line and we're urging every american and democrats -- republican and democrats, too, to do what's right to prevent a government shutdown. reporter: on mahmoud khalil. does the administration think they need to charge a green cardholder with a crime to be eligible for deportation? karoline: secretary rubio has the right to revoke the green

card of khalil. the secretary of state has the right to revoke a green card or a visa for individuals who serve -- adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the united states of america. and mahmoud khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation's finest universities and colleges, and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege by siding with terrorists. hamas terrorists who have killed innocent men, women, and children. this is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed jewish american students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus but also distributed pro-hamas propaganda. flyers with the logo of hamas, that's what the behavior this individual engaged in. and i have those flyers on my

desk. they were provided by the department of homeland security. i thought i would bring it here to share it with you but i didn't think it deserved the pro-propaganda. this is what this person distributed on the campus. you can't have the privilege of studying in this country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed americans. we have a zero tolerance policy for siding with terrorists, period. reporter: thank you, karoline. so you sawed the do you -- said the dow dropping is a period of transition. you're sure no one here at the white house shorted the dow? karoline: no, i don't think so. reporter: ok. is there a concern that it will be harder to ask certain federal workers to retire if they will look at their retirement accounts and they're getting robbed every day? karoline: well, i'm glad you brought up workers because

that's exactly who president trump is looking out for with his america-first trade policy and his america-first economic agenda. and if you look at, there's great indication to be optimistic about where the economy stands, and the american people, investors, c.e.o.'s, small business owners, but most importantly workers, should bet on president trump because his tariff policies, what he envisions is reciprocity. fair trade practices where american workers are put first and are no longer ripped off by foreign countries all over this world. reporter: president trump said he would buy a tesla today. did he and when has he last drove a car? karoline: he said he misses having the luxury of driving his own vehicle. the beast is nice. he will view a tesla that will make its way to the white house complex now, i can confirm. perhaps the press pool today will have an opportunity to witness this very exciting moment later this afternoon, but

tesla -- tesla is on its way nou, and we'll see -- now, and we'll see if the president likes it when he checks it out. reporter: so they're bringing him a tesla to look at and if he likes it, he's just going to buy it? karoline: he's intent -- he's definitely going to buy one but he will take a look at it later this afternoon. reporter: full retail? karoline: yes. full market price. reporter: will the president talk to mark carney? is the decision to increase the tariffs, is that based on a specific economic metric that he looked at? is it impulse? how would you describe his reaction to canada? karoline: the president has not spoken to mr. carney, not since i checked which was just moments ago, but certainly his phone is always open to leaders who wish to speak with him.

as for the tariffs, the president made his position on this quite clear with the statement that he put out, and it was a retaliatory statement due to the escalation of rhetoric that we've seen out of ontario, canada. the president saw the premier, doug ford, make an egregious and insulting comment, threatening to shut down electricity for the american people, for hardworking american families. he made that threat. the president saw that and has an obligation and a responsibility to respond accordingly and represent the interests of the american people. so he's made the decision to add a 25% tariff. so now steel, aluminum tariffs will come into effect tomorrow at the rate of 50%. and our steel and aluminum industries have actually applauded these tariffs because, again, they know it will grow their industry here. it's going to allow them to export more steel that is made right here in the united states with american workers. reporter: egregious and insulting are your words here

but that's what many canadian leaders have said about the actions president trump has taken toward canada. and what do you think the timeline is for speak with mr. carney? normally a sitting president speaks to a close ool lie when -- ally when there is new leadership. karoline: the president is responding to the fact that canada has been ripping off the united states of america and hard wroshging -- hardworking americans for decades. if you look at the rates of tare ufs across the -- across the board that canadians have been imposing on americans and workers here, it is egregious. in fact, i have a handy dandy chart here that shows not only canada but the tariffs across the board. when you look at canada, american cheese and butter, nearly 300% tariff. you look at india, 150% tariff on american alcohol. you think that's helping kentucky bourbon be exported into india? i don't think so. 100% tariff on agricultural products from india. look at japan.

tariffing rice. 700%. president trump believes in reciprocity, and it is about dang time that we have a president who actually looks out for the interests of american businesses and workers. and all he's asking for at the end of the day are fair and balanced trade practices, and unfortunately, canada has not been treating us very fairly at all over the past several decades. to the woman in the purposing, because i saw you were making a face at my previous answer. so what's going on? [laughter] reporter: well, actually, ave couple of questions. at the core of palestinian protests on campuses is the demand to end a war in gaza, a goal this administration actually supports and has pursued. why has this not been acknowledged or highlighted even? karoline: because these colleges and these protests have, again, put out hamas propaganda. the flyers that have been

distributed for violence and have a logo for an organization that have held americans hostage, that murdered innocent babies, that murdered men, women, and children. they are a designated foreign terrorist organization, and we are not going to tolerate noncitizens, foreigners who come here on a visa engaging in such behavior, siding with terrorists. and the secretary of state reserves the authority to revoke the green card or the visa of an individual who serves as -- actually it says right here. reasonable grounds to believe that the alien's presence or activities in the united states would have potentially serious, adverse foreign policy consequences to the united states, and i think siding with hamas makes that clear. secretary rubio exercised that authority, and we fuelly -- fully believe we will move forward with arrests as president trump said. reporter: so are there

conversations between the administration and the canadians going on over this tariff? because the ontario premiere -- premere said to cut off electricity? karoline: the president said there would be grave consequences imposed on canada if they think about shutting off electricity for the united states of america and our citizens, and the president is also determined to ensure that we are depending on american electricity, not the production of foreign nations, including our allies in canada. as for conversations, there is continued correspondence between the president's team, particularly secretary lutnick, and the canadians as well. reporter: and the market reaction. how do you sell to the americans after looking what's going on in the markets and say the tariff policy long term is good? karoline: well, just think what the tariff policy long term will do for our country. i think many of us probably grew up in small towns. i know at least i did and the

main street in my small town looks a heck of a lot worse than it did before i was alive. at least my parents and grarnd parents -- grandparents tell me so. and i think americans think the same way. what the president envisions for this country is for the united states to be a manufacturing superpower owned by americans, producing goods that we're exporting to the rest of the world. those revenues will stay here. it will increase wages for people here in our great country. it will ensure our national security. and it will boost the morale of the american people to have thriving industries again. think about detroit, michigan. think about north carolina, as i mentioned, that used to have a thriving furniture industry that no longer exists because of the globalist trade policies of previous and past administrations. and the american people gave the president a tremendous opportunity to restore american greatness and restore our manufacturing dominance, and he's intent on doing just that.

john. reporter: thanks, karoline. the president's message to republicans to support this continuing resolution, is there outreach? you need bipartisan support and you need compromise. karoline: well, right now we are focused on house republicans and on the house -- because that's the first step as you know, john, and so the president has engaged in correspondence with house republicans whipping votes and getting them to a yes, which i understand has been pretty successful this morning thus far. and so, again, the president is encouraging republicans, especially, but again as i said, all members of congress to vote to continue funding this government so we can continue the business of the american people, which elected president trump to do. reporter: and the financial markets. we've seen this decline yesterday. we see it today as well. it seems that the read on the president's policies is one in

which they do not have confidence in his trades tariff policy, they do not have confidence what the president said to fox news over the weekend, he didn't rule out the idea of a recession. what is your read in terms of the decline that we've seen over the last week and a half in financial markets? karoline: well, i think there's actually a lot of reason to be confident, and many people do feel confident. just look at the nearly $2 trillion in private investment that this president has secured. look at the comments made by the c.e.o. of apple, one of the biggest companies in this world, who said that he is bullish on the future of american innovation under the leadership of president trump. look at c.e.o. confidence. according to the conference board measure of c.e.o. confidence in q-1, 2025, under the leadership of this president, it jumped to the highest level in three years from cautious optimism to confident optimism. if you, again, look at the $2 trillion in investments from some of the biggest companies in

the world, look at the jobs report last friday, as i also cited in my opening remarks. fox business reported that trump sees a manufacturing boom in the first jobs report of his second term. look at the auto jobs in a have already point of order, a quorum is not present back -- poured back in america. those are sticky jobs. those are good-paying jobs. that is 9,000 american families who will live the american dreams because of the policies of this administration. you look at small business optimism. the nfib put out a report. small business optimism finances to be far higher than it ever was than the previous administration. there is a lot of reason to be optimistic. again, the american people, c.e.o.'s, people on wall street and main street should bet on this president. is he a -- he is a deal maker, he is a business man. he wants to restore wealth to the united states of america. michael. good to see you. reporter: hi, karoline. two questions, if i may.

will the administration be providing any relief to states affected by the ontario power tariff? karoline: well, the president has made it very clear that canada would be very wise not to shut off electricity for the american people. and we hope that does not happen. as for what would happen, if that does take place, i'll leave it to the president to make those decisions. reporter: does president trump share the justice department's concern over rising egg prices and possible collusion of big egg? karoline: we definitely do share the concerns of the american people when it comes to the price of eggs. however, good news: the average cost of a dozen eggs is actually down since secretary rollins and president trump announced their plan. it's down $1.85, so that's good news on the cost of eggs. as we now, under the biden administration, egg prices went up 22%. this is an example of an economic mess that the president

inherited and we're focused on fixing it. secretary rollins put out a four-point plan, rather, to address this crisis. and she has been honest and realistic about the -- with the american people as this administration always is. it will take about three to six months to get the egg supply back to where it should be, but she's focused and this administration is focused on doing it every day. reporter: just back on the markets. you said what we're seeing this week on wall street is a snapshot of a moment in time. but does the president think he bears any responsibility for the turmoil in the stock market this week? karoline: look, the president is unwavering in his commitment to restore american manufacturing and global dominance and i think he doubled down on that this morning with his new statement and the tariffs that will be implemented tomorrow on steel and aluminum. reporter: and he has said recently, he's not looking at the market. he said, you can't really watch the stock market. but all of the gains since election day has been erased in the s&p 500. how far do stocks have to fall

before the president considers it a factor and changes course? karoline: like i said, the president will look out for wall street and main street just like he did in his first term. they should bet on this want approximate. he's -- they should bet on this president. reporter: is the president prepared, like we saw congressman massie, to pressure other republican lawmakers into supporting this continuing resolution? karoline: well, he is very much, as i said, engaged in this process. he's been making calls to lawmakers on capitol hill. and i think his statements against congressman massie speak for themselves. and i will let the president put out any additional statements if he chooses to, but he fully expects all house republicans to vote for this continuing resolution. reporter: and just to follow-up: can we start to anticipate see more of the president weighing in on upcoming 2026 races, like we saw this morning? karoline: i'm not sure about that. i am not even sure if i am allowed to speak about that from

this podium. i would check in with our outside political people for guidance on the future rateses and the president's involvement. elena. reporter: elon musk said there's $500 billion to $700 billion in waste and fraud in entitlement spending. he called it, quote, the big one to eliminate. also, he referred to social security as a ponzi scheme. should americans expect big changes to social security and medicare? karoline: president trump has been clear on this. he will protect medicare and social security benefits and medicaid for hardworking americans who paid into these entitlement programs and deserve those hard-earned benefits. and unfortunately, the mainstream media has taken mr. musk out of context. i saw bloomberg headline that our team actually worked on getting updated and fixed because it was so wrong, and it took mr. musk out of context. what he was specifically referring to cutting was the waste and the fraud and abuse that does exist in these

programs. according to an i.g. report from the social security administration, there's more than $70 billion of fraud in a social security program alone that we know of. and so the president will continue to protect these programs for hardworking americans and actually cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of these programs will protect for hardworking americans. reporter: respectfully, he said $2,500 billion to -- $500 billion and $700 billion. if that is the case, that will represent more than a third of what social security paid out last year, maybe 20% of social security and medicare combined. karoline: he said, we think, so it's an estimate based on what he's seen. he's not saying definitively. he said that's what doge suspects and thinks, and that's exactly why doge was created, to ensure we are investigating the fraudulent spending, the wasteful abuse across our federal government. and i would remind everybody in this room that 77% of the american people support this effort by elon musk and ge to

identify such waste, fraud, and abuse. >> c-span wants you, our viewers, to have a voice in the white house briefing room. if you have a question for press secretary karoline leavitt, then send us an email to whquestions @c-span.org. you may hear your question asked at the next briefing. >> nearly 3,500 students participated in this year's c-span cam documentary competition where we asked you to craft a message to the new president, exploring issues important to them or their communities. this wednesday, tune in to c-span's "washington journal" at 8:00 a.m. eastern where we will announce the grand prize winner of this year's competition. >> c-span's "washington journal," our live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from washington and across the country. coming up wednesday morning: a look at the latest efforts by

congress to extend government funding past friday's deadline with "the hill"'s al weaver. then, california republican congressman tom mcclintock, a member of the budget committee, will share details on the legislation and president trump's priorities. also, maryland democratic congresswoman sarah elfreth discusses this week's vote on the measure to fund the government through september 30 and her legislation to protect some federal workers from doge layoffs. c-span's "washington journal," join in the conversation live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span, democracy unfiltered. we're funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center? no. it's way more than that. comcast is partnering with a thousand community centers to create wi-fi enabled centers so low-income families can be ready

fornything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers givi you a front row seat to democracy. >> secretary of state marco rubio announced ukraine accepted a u.s. proposed 30-day cease-fire in the war. secretary rubio was joined by national security advisor michael walz in jeddah, saudi arabia, for the announcement. secretary rubio: as been career from his first day as president, president trump is a president that wants to be a president of peace. his goal is to bring about an end to this war. it's ari